Ensure pedestrians' safe movement

Dhaka city dwellers do not seem to be keen on using foot over-bridges. Rather, they are often seen crossing busy roads risking their lives. There are many fully functional foot-bridges in the capital. But pedestrians' reluctance to use over-bridges is in fact one of the important causes of road accidents. Some foot bridges are almost unusable since they remain full with hawkers and beggars. Again, pedestrians cannot move on these bridges freely due to a number of shops set up on the foot bridges and on the pavement. Sometimes, incidents like theft and robbery take place on the bridges, discouraging people to use these bridges.

While it may be difficult for the elderly people to cross a road over a foot bridge, zebra crossings can help them cross the road without much difficulty. Most cities in the world have zebra crossings for crossing roads. These crossings are the cheapest and best way to manage pedestrian movement on busy roads during peak hours. However in Dhaka city, we see only a few zebra crossings. What is more unfortunate is that moving vehicles do not want to stop in front of such crossings.

Foot bridges and zebra crossings are meant for safe movement of pedestrians. However, they are not serving people much for lack of maintenance. So, the authorities concerned need to improve the over-bridges and encourage people to use them. The media should highlight the importance of their use. The roads in our city should have signs for pedestrians not to jaywalk. Overall, this should be practised by all classes of people. Otherwise, the foot over-bridges will remain unused and accidents will continue.

Md. Abdullah Almamun,

Student of Department of Sociology,

Jagannath University, Dhaka,

kobimimun4989@gmail.com